Improvement in picture-rod moldings



L. J. BAKER. Picture-Rod Molding.

'No. 2o3,526. Patented May l4,l878.

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N.FEIER$ FHOTO-LITHOGRAPNER, WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT Ornion LOBING J. BAKER, O'F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN PICTURE-ROD MOLDINGSI Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 203,526, dated May 14, 1878; application filed April 8, 1878.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, LORING J. BAKER, of Boston, Suffolk county, State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Picture-Rod Moldings, of which the following is a specification:

These improvements relate to picture-rod moldings, so called, or strips of wood in the form of a molding, which are nailed to the wall of a room parallel to and immediately below the ceiling, and providedwith a bead, called the rod, from which the hook is suspended that receives. the cord of a picture frame.

My present molding comprises the ordinary picture-rod molding, and in addition thereto, and making part of the same strip of wood, a cornice, which is disposed above the remainder, while'below the bead which supports the hook I create a channel for the reception of the nails, and I bevel or slope the upper edge of the molding, in order that its front corner only shall find a bearing upon the ceiling, thereby insuring a close joint and a finished appearance.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure 1, a perspective of a piece of picture-rod molding containing my invention, and in Fig. 2 a view of a molding in common use.

In carrying my improvements into practice, I construct my molding with a lower main portion, A, which contains a bead, B, to support thehooks from which pictures are suspended, and is similar to picture-rod moldings in general use; and I add to the upperpart of this molding a cornice portion, 0, which serves to fill the corner between the wall and ceiling of an apartment, and present a finished appearance.

Below the head or rod B, I create a longitudinal channel, I), through the bottom or back a of which the nails are driven, which secllire the entire molding in place upon the wa The swell b, below the channel D, serves to obscure the heads of the nails, which are driven through the back of such channel, and all evidences of mutilation of the molding are thereby concealed.

The upper edge of t the cornice O slopes away at rear, as shown at c, in order that the front corner cl shall alone find a bearing against the ceiling. By this means I am enabled to obtain a perfect joint between the molding and ceiling, which presents a highly-finished appearance.

- It has been customary heretofore to provide picture-rod moldings with a lip, a, at the rear upper part, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, through which the nails are driven that secure the molding to the wall, the employment of the lip serving to conceal the heads of thenails, but leaving an unsightly space between the molding and ceiling. Furthermore, in a molding of this character, as the weight of a picture is resisted only by a thin and narrow strip of wood, the latter is often split, and in some instances the molding is detached from he wall.

My objectin placing the channel for the reception of the nails near the center or toward the lower part of the molding, and disposing the head or rod B above it, is to provide a wide and thick body of wood above the nails, which efl'ectually resists the weight of the picture which may be suspended from said rod.

The channel D is not, per se, necessarily of any peculiar shape. My invention in this respect consists in placing it below the bead or rod B, for purposes last above named.

I claim- 1. In a picture-rod molding containing a cornice portion, as stated, the nail-receiving channel D, as situated below the header rod B, substantially as and for purposes stated.

2. A picture-rod molding containing the following elements: a picture-rod molding proper, a cornice i whose Iupper edge} slopes away at rear, and a nail-receiving channel disposed below the hook-supporting bead or rod, the whole being substantially as and for purposes stated. 1

L. J. BAKER.

Witnesses F. CURTIS, L. A. CURTIS. 

